


the darkest hour (of the darkest night)

by CycloneRachel



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Gen, Heavy Angst, Introspection, Near Death Experiences, One Shot, Season/Series 05 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:55:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24263950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CycloneRachel/pseuds/CycloneRachel
Summary: Querl won. He defeated Leviathan, and intended to die a hero.But, it seemed, there were different plans for him.(5x19 alternate ending)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 30





	the darkest hour (of the darkest night)

**Author's Note:**

> hi friends! so 5x19 was... well, it certainly wasn't a bad finale. They did the best with what they could, both in terms of putting together the episode and all the cast and crew involved- especially Jesse Rath, who continues to be incredible.
> 
> that said, there were still some things I would've changed, as self-indulgent as they might be, and this scene is one of them. So I hope you enjoy!

Querl is dying.

He knows that for sure, was even prepared for it in the hours leading up to what he’d done. But his part in this is over- he’s captured Rama Khan and the other element-benders serving Leviathan, and now they reside in the bottle he’s still holding in his hand. Now, he can rest.

(He won’t let go of the bottle. That much is for certain- even though he knows it will not break if he drops it, as long as he’s breathing, he’s going to hold onto it. Onto the victory he now has, the thought that he beat them, that Lex underestimated him. That he was able to reclaim the legacy of his ancestors, even redeem the most horrible thing they were known to do.)

(That his mother once did for him.)

He thinks of his eight-year-old self- selfish, furious with his father for not letting him keep the planet that he thought he was owed. His mother had looked upon him with pride, encouraged him to demand the planet back. He remembers holding it, imagining everything he could do with such a world, before it was ripped away from him- and looking back on it after he received the inhibitors, judging such a reaction distantly.

He hadn’t liked who he had become, both before the inhibitors and after. And now…

Now he was someone else entirely. Someone his father might not fear if he was alive, someone his mother wouldn’t be proud of, and he took pride in that.

Or he would have, before he did what he had to do.

(He knew this was a possibility, when he joined the Legion- making the sacrifice, dying a hero. If he were still a part of the Legion, he would be honored when he finally passed. His body would be covered in a shroud, he’d be placed in a coffin, and the coffin would be jettisoned into the nearest star- an insurance that there would be no Brainiacs created from his remains, in addition to being traditional for all fallen Legionnaires.)

(He had just never expected to die in the twenty-first century, even if there were multiple occasions where he could have done so.)

His female doppelganger sits beside him, as he endures the intense pain coursing through his body, the radiation poisoning him.

( _Is this what it feels like,_ he wonders, _for Kara to experience Kryptonite_?)

She watches him, as he’s slumped against a column in the Leviathan ship and waiting for it all to be over.

 _I’m sorry,_ he wants to say to her. _I failed you. I am the last Brainiac 5- your Prime Querl Dox… and yet I will still die, saving my world. Saving Supergirl._

He knows she’ll remain with him, even after death- he’ll pass on into the Big Brain, his mind will be preserved, even if it’s in a time outside of his own. He will be reunited with his other doppelgangers, and will have to tell them his story.

(He isn’t looking forward to that, but he supposes it’s inevitable.)

“You did it, Querl.” She says, when he can’t find the strength to say anything. “You did it. You saved this world. You saved your friends.”

He wants to thank her, for her encouragement, and all that she has done to help him along the way- but he doesn’t.

Instead he answers, voice shaking, “Will you…s-s-stay w-with me?”

She takes his hand, and even though he knows she’s a projection from his mind, he finds her presence comforting.

“Till the very end.” She says as he struggles to breathe.

He almost doesn’t notice someone entering the ship- someone who doesn’t cry out in pain when they arrive, walking towards him with calm steps.

“I knew it would be you.” She says. “Did you really think you wouldn’t escape my notice? Playing the hero, trying to save the world just like you did in our time? Operating under a false face, a ridiculous name- _Brainy_?”

He recognizes her voice immediately- it’s cold, and sends a shudder through him. Nothing like his other self.

Brainiac 4, like this ship, only brings him pain.

“Wh- you… are not supposed… to be here.”

“On the contrary, Querl. I made sure I was supposed to. Appearing throughout history, introducing our technology to this world…Who else could have?”

She crouches down before him, and he stares into cold eyes- ones he’s very familiar with, even though he hasn’t seen them in years.

 _You_. He thinks. _The... what did Lex call you, when he told me about Gamemnae, and the person she answers to?_

_Anointed One. That’s who you are._

He knew there was a possibility the head of Leviathan was someone intelligent, someone with the capability to plan so much, orchestrate countless events.

He just hadn’t expected them to be _her_.

“Thank you for getting rid of those so-called gods for me, by the way.” She continues, taking the bottle from him, as he slowly relinquishes it. “I admit I did indulge them, let them entertain their delusions of grandeur. But in the grand scheme of things, they didn’t matter much, did they? All they did was try and take away the moment that should be mine.”

She holds his chin up, making him look at her.

“Now all that’s left to do is kill Supergirl. And…would it not hurt her so _much_ more if she suffered at the hands of one of her Super-friends?”

“Mother… don’t…”

“Come now, my darling boy.” Fabala Dox answers. “You didn’t think I was going to leave you here, did you?”

“I… did.”

“Then you were mistaken.” She says, picking him up, taking him out of the Leviathan ship. He lets himself be carried, savors the last few moments that he’s certain he knows himself- before there’s a possibility she makes him into someone else, and he hates even more who he becomes.

The last thing he hears before slipping into unconsciousness is her laughter, as she looks down on him with something he might describe as pity if he didn’t know her.

Then, there’s only darkness.


End file.
